Two Week Meal Plan

How we really eat at home

Until I was a mum I never had a problem thinking of something delicious and creative to make for dinner. Cooking and recipe creation came easily to me. I have to admit that, due to pregnancy and the repetitive pressure of housewifely and motherly activities, I can for the first time personally understand the predicament ‘what on earth shall we have for dinner tonight’. Like many home cooks, I have come to rely on a loose rotation of our favourite standard recipes, with variations frequent due to moments of inspiration or seasonal availability of produce.

Also for the first time, I have also taken to planning 7 evening meals at the start of each week. This is helpful in remedying my current ideas vacuum, it also saves money when shopping.

Some people wonder if we really eat like the food in our cookbook and on this websaite. Mainly we do, although often more simply. And yes, we enjoy decadent indulges occasionally (like homemade hot chocolate and special desserts).

Here is a rough guide to our typical diet. Hopefully my planning can help you in yours.

Note 1: I wouldn’t stick absolutely to a plan like this, rather I tend to mix and match according to my preferences that day.
Note 2: I haven’t included recipes for all of my suggestions as I don’t use a recipe myself, however I am happy to give you more precise instructions if you wish, just email me your query.

Breakfast

We usually soak a wholegrain at night and then cook it up in the morning. Soaking improves digestibility, reduces cooking time and makes breakfast easy. We also often heat up left-over grains from the previous night’s dinner for breakfast. Every second or third morning we will have eggs.
Here are a few standard breakfasts that we enjoy:
•   Soaked and cooked brown rice/millet/quinoa/buckwheat/oats with any of the following: fruit, yoghurt, ground seeds, molasses or honey, bee pollen, a fruit cream (soaked nuts with berries, banana or other fruit), milk (goat, rice, oat).
Here is one easy porridge recipe that can be adapted for any pre-cooked whole grain.
•   Bircher muesli with grated apple
•   Scrambled or poached eggs with any of the following: silverbeet, tomatoes, tomatoes, mushrooms, homemade pesto and a slice or two of toasted sourdough bread.
•   Every 2-3 weeks we have a weekend breakfast of buckwheat pancakes with cooked or raw fruit, yoghurt, honey or maple syrup, lemon etc
Click here for more breakfast ideas.

Lunch

Lunch is usually left-overs. If there are no leftovers, in winter I might make a simple soup with legumes and vegetables. In summer we often have a salad of whatever is around topped with cooked beans or hummus or goat’s cheese or canned fish, and then drizzled with olive oil and lemon/cider vinegar.

Dinners

Day 1

Frittata made with whatever I have: vegetarian with pumpkin (winter) courgettes and egg plant (summer), herbs and feta, or with smoked fish and vegetables, plus a nice salad on the side and perhaps a grain like millet/buckwheat/quinoa.

Day 2

Marinated baked tofu in self-made nori wraps with brown rice, sliced cucumber, grated or chopped salad vegetables, avocado and a sesame seed sauce (ground sesame seeds, ginger, lemon juice, soy sauce, water). To marinate and bake the tofu: blend fresh ginger, garlic, miso, olive oil, with a little water – then tip it over the slices of tofu in a baking dish, let it sit all day and then bake until the sauce is almost evapourated.
Day 3

Adzuki bean or lentil shepherds pie with seasonal vegetables or salad. This is basically a bean stew topped with mashed potatoes. Note: allow the bean mix to cool before putting potatoes on top. Dollop large spoonfuls of potato on top of the bean mix and then use a fork to spread and smooth together.

Day 4

Baked vegetables (summer Mediterranean veggies eg courgette, capsicum, tomato or winter root veggies) with a grain (quinoa/millet/buckwheat/rice) and grilled or fried haloumi cheese, plus green leaf salad.

Day 5

Fresh fish, lightly coated with flour and spices, pan-fried and served with wok-fried seasonal vegetables (I blend water with a soy sauce, a little cornflour and fresh ginger and add this to the vegetables – making an easy oriental sauce) on rice noodles.

Day 6

Mexican bean dish (either vegetarian or with added venison mince or chicken) with guacamole, sour cream or strained thickened yoghurt, tomato coriander salsa, shredded lettuce and grated vegetables,

Day 7

Miso soup . Or another vegetable soup like pumpkin, beetroot or mixed vegetable topped with grated cheese/goats cheese and fresh herbs

Day 8

Gado gado : Tempeh, sliced then grilled or fried, on top of a selection steamed vegetables, garnished with satay sauce, sprouts, avocado, tomato and boiled egg (optional)

Day 9

Traditional roast free range chicken with seasonal vegetables and roast potatoes.

Day 10

Chicken soup (stock made of chicken carcass and meat pulled off bones). I add cubed potatoes, fresh or canned corn, lots of fresh parsley and season with salt and pepper.
or Chicken salad, with green leaves, sliced fresh mango, homemade mayonnaise, chopped red capsicum and spring onions. Or try this one.

Day 11

Tomato coconut soup with fish dumplings

Day 12

Venison rissoles – in summer we like to put them in a wrap with green salad, tomato, grated carrot/beetroot, sprouts and homemade tomato sauce/chutney… maybe with oven baked kumara chips or wedges on the side
- In winter we like to have them with comforting food like mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli.

Day 13

Chickpea curry and/or spinach coconut dahl with brown rice, cucumber/yoghurt raita, maybe pappadums, homemade chutney

Day 14

Venison/Beef/Lamb slow cooked casserole with garlic/onions/vegetables

Day 15

Buckwheat Kasha, wild venison sausages and kale/spinach

Day 16

Grilled salmon, celeriac salad or red/white coleslaw with a creamy tahini dressing or mayo and new potatoes.

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